By Will Grunewald
From our January 2025 issue
Every winter brings ice bars to Maine, although the lineup tends to ebb and flow. One year, an ice bar pops up here. The next, maybe it doesn’t, but some other restaurant or hotel hosts one instead. Chalk it up to the fundamental nature of any object cut entirely from blocks of ice: there’s no storing it in the shed till next year. And, sure, ice bars are a bit of a gimmick, contrived to sell alcohol at a premium, but they also have an undeniable romance about them — manifestations of our collective desire to lean in to winter and to make the most of cold, dark days. “You know what this Maine winter needs?” we ask ourselves. “More ice.”
At least a few ice bars around the state have been returning year after year. St. Joseph’s College hosts its annual open-to-the-public school fundraiser with an elaborate ice bar — think of martinis poured through a twisting ice luge — on February 8 (278 Whites Bridge Rd., Standish; 207-893-7890). Inn by the Sea, in Cape Elizabeth, hosts its Ice Bar & Seafood Celebration from February 20 to 22, benefiting a nonprofit fighting childhood food insecurity in Maine (40 Bowery Beach Rd., Cape Elizabeth; 207-799-3134). Probably the biggest ice-bar bash every year takes place at the Samoset Resort, in Rockport, from a perch overlooking Penobscot Bay. Tens of thousands of pounds of ice get turned into a bar, barstools, tables, and chairs — the seating gets covered in faux-fur blankets, for obvious reasons — as well as big, decorative polar bears and various other embellishments. This year, the event runs January 17 to 19 and January 24 to 25 (220 Warrenton St., Rockport; 207-594-2511).
At Newry’s Sunday River, too, there’s a new ski-up, season-long attraction that feels in the spirit of ice bars. The Alpeniglu, as it’s called, is a massive igloo with a bar inside that debuted last winter (near the base of the Jordan 8 lift). Basically, instead of walking up to an ice bar, you walk inside it, where there are boozy drinks and vibe-y music and lighting. But the real key to the appeal might just be that, like an ice bar, it’ll be gone in the spring.
From our special “Winter Wonder” feature, our guide to the people, places, gear, and more making it possible to have an amazing Maine winter. Find a few “Winter Wonder” stories here on the website, and pick up a copy of our January 2025 issue to read them all!
